Bikes!

For our past anniversary, my birthday and Mother's Day combined, we finally went shopping and picked out bikes for the family! I was so excited and couldn't have asked for a better gift. We went and picked them up while my family was in town and rode them the two miles back home. I was hoping our little daredevil would enjoy the ride and he did not disappoint. He loved it!

My bike is complete with a basket for any excursion and the baby seat easily moves between our two so I can take Nathan out by myself or Ryan can take him for a solo ride.

N loves it and knows exactly what we mean when we ask if he wants to go for a bike ride. He even likes wearing his helmet and points to it the minute we go out in the garage. I'm looking forward to many fun adventures!

First Birthday Party

With the perfect party house and a refreshing pool, I knew I wanted Nathan's birthday party to be at our home with a fish or water theme. Thanks to Pinterest, Photoshop and Joanne's, I started planning and formulating the perfect way to celebrate our little buddy. Ryan may have thought I went overboard at times, but I had a lot of fun and it gave me a fun project for nap times!

The details were months in the making but they all came together in the last days and hours thanks to the many hands on deck that stayed with us. The party prep began on Friday with all the baking that my amazing sister, Alex, did for the 60+ cupcakes she made. Brother in law Lincoln carved up a watermelon to be a shark head and everyone else helped get the house ready.

Saturday morning was busy putting all the final touches together. Setting up food, hanging up banners, blowing up pool toys, arranging party favors...I would never have been able to pull it all together without my family being in town!

Since the party was at lunchtime I wanted to make sure we had enough food for our guests. We served Peanut Butter and Jelly"fish" Sandwiches, Shark Bait (fruit salad), Seaweed (spinach) Dip, Hermit Dogs (pigs in a blanket), Submarine Sandwiches, and Goldfish of course!

There are many, many special people in our lives that have seen us through Nathan's first year and we were so blessed to be able to celebrate with so many of them that day! It warmed my heart to look over the backyard and see all the family members, babies and friends together.

Nathan had a blast playing in the splash fountain his Lolly bought for the party and swimming in the pool with  Ryan. His smile just lights up my life! He had his cousin and music buddies to play with and everyone seemed to enjoy the beautiful day.

Alex decorated the smash cake like a beach with a cute little crab on top. Our little eater loved gobbling up the sugar and really dug his hands into the tasty icing. He was so funny crunching his fists together and licking his fingers. Yum!

We couldn't have asked for more gorgeous weather - sunny skies and cool breezes. It was a perfect day and so special to celebrate our little monkey turning one. All that party prep was worth it and I am so thankful we had the help and the company for such a momentous occasion!

One Year Well Visit

Well, we made it a year and overall, Nathan was a pretty healthy kid! A few bad colds, three total ear infections and one episode of pink eye were the major ailments but otherwise he had an uneventful year, medically speaking.

At his one year well visit he finally broke into the 50th percentile in weight at 23.2 pounds. It only took a year for our lean little boy to make it to an average weight!

His head continued to grow and entered the 75th percentile at 18.5 inches round. We have a smart boy with a growing brain on our hands!

The biggest surprise at the checkup was his height - 31 3/4 inches long, or the 90th percentile! I knew he was tall but I had no idea he had sprouted up that much!

He didn't mind the toe prick to test his blood levels and I'm happy to say his iron count was higher than the last two visits. However, the poor bubs cried so hard for his two shots! So sad to see your baby in distress like that. He ended up having a red welt and then bad bruising around the shot spots, worse than any other time he's been. Poor baby!

I'm so proud that our monkey has grown so big in the past twelve months and I'm relieved he is doing so well! It will be interesting to see how his stats continue to change into his second year.

Happy Mother's Day

Thanks to this little man deciding he wanted to come early a year ago, I became a mom on Mother's Day 2011 and my world has never been the same.

I couldn't have survived this first year, or the last 31 years for that matter, without the love, support, advice and help from my own dear mom. What an amazing woman - I hope I can be just like her when I grow up!

 Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms out there. The world is a better place because of you!

Celebrating the Birthday Boy

Even though I know he won't remember it, I wanted Nathan's first birthday to be a special day so in the midst of all the planning for his big party, I focused on a few things for the actual day, too. Ryan and I greeted him that morning with a bunch of balloons, singing "Happy Birthday" as we walked in the room. After a birthday bottle, we walked him out to see his present from us - a pirate ship water table. That should prove to be a lot of fun this summer!

We brainstormed an entertaining dinner venue and settled on Kobe Steakhouse - good food and a fun show to keep our monkey mesmerized for the meal. Ryan's mom, brother and sister all joined us to celebrate. Nathan had so much fun! A little unsure at first, he quickly warmed up to the chef and loved looking from table to table at all the action. Of course, he devoured his dinner, as I knew he would!

When we got back to the house it was already pretty late but we had to do cupcakes and give the birthday boy his first taste of sugar! I had baked them earlier that day but stuck them in the fridge so the icing was pretty hard and stayed in one solid block as he tried to eat it. That didn't phase him. One taste and he was in heaven! Before I could even take it away he had wolfed down the entire thing!

What a year it's been and what a fun day we had to remember it all. I love this little guy so much. 

Happy birthday Nathan!

Law School Graduation

Ryan's sister spent the last three years in Tallahassee studying to be an attorney and we traveled up to FSU last weekend to celebrate all of her hard work. We drove the four + hours with Ryan's mom and brother and all stayed together the night before the graduation ceremony in a hotel right near campus.

We met up with Sarah and some of her friends for a celebratory dinner at a restaurant in town. With such a large party, it was a pretty long, drawn-out meal and N got pretty restless but overall he did a great job keeping entertained. Even though it was way past his bedtime, he was a trooper and we all had a nice time.

The next morning, we headed over to the civic center to watch all the graduates get their degrees. Unfortunately, the timing worked out that it was right at Nathan's nap time, so Ryan and I took turns rocking and shushing the bubs, trying to get him to fall asleep. Ryan had the magic touch and he got a nice 45 minute snooze in before waking back up.

After the ceremony we headed over to the law school for pictures and refreshments. It was a lovely day and the campus was so pretty. For lunch, we all went back into town and had a nice meal before we had to head back home. Thankfully, N slept most of the car ride back - the poor monkey was exhausted!

We're so proud of Sarah and all that she accomplished while in school! Congrats to the graduate!

Twelve Months

Nathan, you are twelve months old - one whole year!

Oh, what personality you have developed! You are so sweet and your sly little smiles melt my heart and make my day. You are also a complete cuckoo bird and can be so silly - screeching, shaking your arms and falling over (on purpose) as you zoom circles around the house. I hope you can always laugh at yourself and not take life too seriously. You're so good at it right now!

 You are SO busy! I am exhausted at the end of each day from chasing you around and keeping up with you. You crawl and cruise everywhere and I'm beginning to wonder if I need to invest in a crash helmet for all the bumps and bruises you obtain on that poor little noggin. I've been closing the door to your room while we play just to keep you contained and you motor from toy to toy, entertaining yourself the whole time.

You've learned some "tricks" this month that crack me up. You shake your booty and dance when you hear music. You clap sporadically and when others do it. You can show us you are "so big." It's all adorable!

You started swim lessons this month and despite loving the water, you HATE it. Each time I hand you over to Ms. Glenda you immediately begin wailing and continue for the entire lesson each day. I hate it for you but I'm hoping it teaches you good safety skills for the pool this summer. You're a trooper and still end each lesson with a smile (after drying off and getting a bottle, of course).

Your hair has lightened up a lot and gets blonder each day. Perhaps it's the sunshine and chlorine? Your daddy keeps threatening to cut it, too, but I won't let him even if it is a little long around the ears. You've had a blue vein across the bridge of your nose since the day you were born and I wondered if it would slowly fade as you grew but it seems to be your birthmark for now. Two new teeth popped up this month and you have a grand total of eight now (four up top, four below).

We had a rough patch of getting you to sleep but it must have been the new teeth because you're back on track now. You typically go to bed around 8 pm and sleep 11-12 hours through the night. You also take two naps each day, around 10 am and 2 pm. I still tend to rock you to sleep during the day because if I don't you don't realize you are tired and cry when you're put down. You're much better at night falling asleep on your own.

Food continues to be easy for us and you gobble everything up that you're given. You don't really care that much for watermelon or strawberries but will still eat them if offered. You had your first taste of sugar (that's probably not true) with a birthday cupcake and you devoured the entire thing before I could get my hands on it. We're in trouble! On top of three very full meals a day you still take four bottles. I'm wondering how we will wean you once we get the go-ahead for milk!

Your favorite things right now are bubbles, balloons, balls and books. It's so funny to watch you sit and turn the pages, reading to yourself. You love to grab our sunglasses or Daddy's hats and try them on yourself. You're pretty good at doing it on your own! Above all, though, you love Jax and crack up at your buddy all day long. You love to give her cookies and crawl all over her. Good thing she is so patient with you!

This first year flew by so fast I can hardly believe it. I knew before you were born that I would love you and I knew once we met that I loved you more than I originally could have thought but now I love you more each day than I ever thought possible. You may wear me out and present me with new challenges each day, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It is a privilege to be your mama and I am so thankful God gave you to me. Happy birthday, my bubaloo! I love you so much!

xoxo

12 Month Stats:

Weight - 23.2 pounds

Diapers - size 4

Clothes - mostly 18m, size 4 shoe

First Birthday Eve

"On the night you were born,

the moon smiled with such wonder

that the stars peeked in to see you

and the night wind whispered,

'Life will never be the same.'

Because there had never been anyone like you...

ever in the world.

So enchanted with you were the wind and the rain

that they whispered the sound of your wonderful name.

It sailed through the farmland

high on the breeze...

Over the ocean...

And through the trees...

Until everyone heard it

and everyone knew

of the one and only ever you.

Not once had there been such eyes,

such a nose,

such silly, wiggly, wonderful toes.

Heaven blew every trumpet

and played every horn

on the wonderful, marvelous

night you were born."

~Nancy Tillman

Happy, happy birthday to my monkey, my buddy, my sweet baby boy. I can't believe a year has passed in a flash and how you've gone from being a sleepy, tiny newborn to a silly, busy toddler. We have been through so much in this first year - a lot of laughter, a lot of tears, a lot of challenges and a lot of memories. I never knew my heart could grow to be full of this much love and I am thankful each day that God blesses me with you as my son. I was fearful I wouldn't know what to do when you arrived but I think we've both taught each other a lot over these 12 months and being your mom has come so naturally to me. Each day watching you grow is a treasure and I look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you!

Caroline's Birthday

The last birthday party before Nathan's was celebrated last week for our buddy Caroline. Her mom, Dana, put together an adorable "Hungry Caterpillar" play date at Azalea Lane Park and we hurried from swim lessons so we could be there.

All of our music buddies were there and it was so cute to see them all together. Even in the few months since we've known them, it's amazing how much these kiddos have all grown and changed!

We had a lovely picnic lunch and got to play on the playground. Nathan enjoyed swinging with the boys and sweet Hilton fell asleep while sucking his thumb! The party wore him out!

Caroline did not like having her hands messy with her smash cake so after a few failed attempts as tasting it she was done. Other that that, though, the party was a great success!